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Making Health Care Work Updates

One of American democracy’s most pressing problems is that large contributions—which only a fraction of the American public can afford to make—unduly influence who can run for office and who wins elections in the United States. In 2000, 94 percent of the candidates who raised the most money won their general election contests.1 In the 2002 congressional primaries, 90 percent of the biggest fundraisers emerged victorious.

A price survey of 33 pharmacies in the D.C. Area, conducted by the national consumer groups Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG and the D.C. chapter of the Gray Panthers shows that consumers who lack prescription drug coverage are being charged retail prices that are nearly double the prices prescription drug makers charge their most favored customers.